Beeb gives SNP star treatment with conference aired across UK
NICOLA Sturgeon and SNP politicians will benefit f rom unprecedented TV coverage of their annual conference as the BBC prepares to give the party a UK-wide platform.
The corporation is set to send up to 80 members of staff to next month’s event in Aberdeen, which will be the largest in the SNP’s history.
After the party’s stunning General Election success, which saw it win 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats, the BBC will effectively award the Nationalists the billing once enjoyed by the Lib Dems under Nick Clegg and Charles Kennedy. That means Miss Sturgeon’s keynote address and other speeches will be carried live on BBC 2 across the entire UK and network reporters such as political editor Laura Kuenssberg will front the coverage.
Flagship shows such as Daily Politics, hosted by Andrew Neil and Jo Coburn, are expected to come from Aberdeen, while the conf erence will also dominate nightly news bulletins.
UK Labour and Tory conferences, in Brighton and Manchester respectively, will continue to receive extensive coverage as always, meaning the two parties cannot complain about the SNP enjoying similar treatment.
But it will exasperate Scottish Labour and Scottish Tory strategists, with both parties trailing far behind the Nationalists in the polls. Scottish Labour has a conference in Perth next month that is likely to receive little focus from TV broadcasters.
The BBC’s plans for extensive SNP coverage come at a time when former First Minister Alex Salmond is at war with the corporation over its referendum output, which he considers biased. It also comes after the SNP’s victory led to more regular appearances for its politicians on flagship BBC show Question Time, even when it is broadcast from England.
Miss Sturgeon said the October conference would be used as a springboard for next May’s Holyrood election. ‘ Our cam- paign is beginning to motor. By the time of our conference we will have all our candidates in place,’ she said.
‘One of the big logistical challenges we have now is the size of our party. The conference in Aberdeen next month will be the biggest we have had.
‘Just to give that some context, in Perth last year we had an auditorium with 1,200 seats. In Aberdeen next month we will
‘Proportional coverage’
have an auditorium with 4,700 seats – four times as big.
‘Our exhibition space will be three times as big and we’re expecting three times the number of outside observers. The space we’re making available for the media is six times bigger than in Perth last year.’
Miss Sturgeon wants her supporters to start campaigning for the election as soon as the three- day conference is over, knocking on half-a-million doors before Christmas.
Starting on October 15, it will begin with a speech from Miss Sturgeon focusing on the Holyrood election, with Westminster leader Angus Robertson speaki ng l ater alongside deputy leader Stewart Hosie.
On the second day, Deputy First Minister John Swinney and International Development Minister Humza Yousaf will enjoy UK-wide coverage of their speeches, before Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood delivers a ‘fraternal address’. Miss Sturgeon makes her keynote speech on the Saturday afternoon.
A BBC Scotland spokesman said the conference would receive ‘proportional coverage’ in Scotland and ‘across the network, in line with editorial guidelines’.
The SNP’s election success has triggered a number of perks for the party. Its MPs chair two Commons committees for the first time, and Mr Robertson has been made a member of the Privy Council, meaning he is an official adviser to the Queen.
He also has two questions a week at Prime Minister’s Questions, and the Nationalists are expected to get at least £1.2million from taxpayers to run their Westminster back office.